This week has been a tour de force of Tesla Optimus demonstrations. But even with the humanoid robot’s already impressive capabilities, CEO Elon Musk dropped a comment that truly made Optimus even more exciting. 

Inasmuch as Optimus today is likely one of the most advanced humanoid robots in the industry, it is still nothing close to what Tesla really wants to create.

Optimus Demonstrations

Optimus’ demonstrations this week caught headlines because they showed the humanoid robot performing impressive dance moves. Initially, a video posted by Elon Musk on social media platform X showed Optimus dancing while being tethered to a cable. A follow up video upped the ante, with Optimus performing actual ballet moves without any support.

Comments from Tesla Vice President of Optimus (Tesla Bot) Milan Kovac revealed that the humanoid robot’s movements were fully learned in simulation and zero-shot transferred to real without extra training. Elon Musk later joked that he would be accompanied by a troupe of dancing Optimus robots at the 2024 Tesla Annual Shareholder Meeting.

Not Even Close

But in another follow-up comment on X, Musk clarified that while Optimus is already impressive today, it is still very far from its planned final form. This was quite surprising as the humanoid robot is already in initial production at the Fremont Factory. Even in its current state, Optimus also looks production-ready. Elon Musk even noted that Optimus robots are just walking around Tesla’s factories today around the clock, charging themselves as needed.

With this in mind, one could wonder what Optimus’ final form could really be like. While the humanoid robot’s current iteration is already pretty sleek, perhaps Tesla is still developing Optimus until its appearance could mirror the robot’s static display model that the company showed off back in 2021. That Optimus model featured very human proportions and joints, making it look more like an android from a sci-fi flick than a humanoid robot with obvious mechanical parts.

A recent drone flyover of the Giga Texas complex has provided some footage of mysterious vehicles that were seemingly being road-tested inside the factory complex.

The sighting of the cryptic Teslas comes amid the company’s efforts to start the production of affordable cars this year.

The Sighting

A video of the two mysterious Teslas was shared on social media by longtime Giga Texas watcher Joe Tegtmeyer, who has been chronicling the activities and developments in the factory complex for years. In the video, the drone operator was following a new Tesla Model Y as it traveled from the main Gigafactory Texas building to the facility’s staging lot autonomously using FSD Unsupervised. The trip that spans 1.4 miles of roads that includes pedestrians, cars, semi trucks, buses, and construction equipment, among others.

Interestingly enough, the drone operator ended up capturing two partially covered vehicles that were seemingly running road tests near the Giga Texas staging lot. The two vehicles, which were seemingly accompanied by a Tesla Cybertruck, were shaped like the new Model Y, though their front and rear ends were fully covered.

Model Y Performance or Affordable Tesla?

The presence of the two mysterious Teslas in the drone operator’s video caught the attention of the EV community, some of whom speculated that the covered vehicles may be test units of the new Model Y Performance. The new Model Y, after all, has only been released in its Long Range Rear Wheel Drive (RWD) and Long Range All Wheel Drive (AWD) variants. The new Model Y Performance, the vehicle’s top variant, has not been released as of yet. This speculation seems plausible, considering that the vehicles’ front and rear were covered, similar to test units of the Model 3 Performance that were sighted in the wild before the car was released.

Others speculated that the cryptic Teslas could also be test units of the company’s upcoming affordable car. Previous reports have suggested that Tesla’s affordable vehicles may be based on cars like the Model Y, so it would not be surprising if its test units resemble the revamped all-electric crossover. Tesla VP of Vehicle Engineering Lars Moravy teased this resemblance during the Q1 2025 earnings call, when he stated that “models that come out in the next months will be built on our lines and will resemble, in form and shape, the cars we currently make.”

SpaceX is positioning its Starlink constellation as a viable GPS alternative. In a letter to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), SpaceX stated that it could leverage Starlink satellites for next-generation Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) solutions.

GPS has been run through a single provider in the United States, the Defense Department. The FCC intends to use Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) solutions to complement GPS technologies. In its letter, SpaceX highlighted Starlink’s potential to deliver PNT services alongside its broadband offerings in its letter to the FCC.

“As the Commission identifies specific actions to contribute to the whole-of-government PNT system resilience effort, one opportunity stands out as a particularly ripe, low-hanging fruit: facilitating the rapid deployment of next-generation low-Earth orbit (‘LEO’) satellite constellations that can deliver PNT as a service alongside high-speed, low-latency broadband and ubiquitous mobile connectivity,” SpaceX wrote.

SpaceX also emphasized its ongoing work to integrate PNT into its cellular Starlink service, which is expected to be launched with T-Mobile in July. The private space provider also stated that Starlink satellites already operate independently of GPS. This lays the groundwork for resilient PNT delivery across authorized frequencies, SpaceX noted in its letter.

“SpaceX has also been actively working to integrate PNT solutions into its direct-to-device commercial service offerings. In so doing, SpaceX can advance the Commission’s goal in this proceeding to maintain American leadership in next-generation PNT services both here at home and in over 130 countries it serves around the world.

“SpaceX looks forward to playing an integral role in creating a more robust, resilient, and secure PNT ecosystem for Americans and people around the world,” SpaceX noted.

SpaceX also advocated for a “technology-neutral approach” to GPS alternatives in its letter, while critiquing EchoStar’s unused 2GHz spectrum for mobile satellite services. Meanwhile, Globalstar, Apple’s satellite provider, also pitched its services as a GPS complement, stating that its services “can function as either an alternative or a complement to GPS.”

“Notably, Globalstar’s satellites transmit outside of the L-band, which provides PNT users with added immunity from GPS jamming and spoofing. In addition, Globalstar’s satellite transmissions at 2.4GHz are stronger than GPS signals, bolstering resilience, performance, and reliability,” GlobalStar noted.

SpaceX’s letter to the FCC can be viewed below.

Starlink GPS FCC by maria on Scribd